Devices, systems, and methods for preventing, detecting, and treating pressure-induced ischemia, pressure ulcers, and other conditions

Abstract

A system for monitoring medical conditions including pressure ulcers, pressure-induced ischemia and related medical conditions comprises at least one sensor adapted to detect one or more patient characteristic including at least position, orientation, temperature, acceleration, moisture, resistance, stress, heart rate, respiration rate, and blood oxygenation, a host for processing the data received from the sensors together with historical patient data to develop an assessment of patient condition and suggested course of treatment, including either suspending or adjusting turn schedule based on various types of patient movement. The sensor can include one or more of bi-axial or tri-axial accelerometers, magnetometers and altimeters as well as resistive, inductive, capacitive, magnetic and other sensing devices, depending on whether the sensor is located on the patient or the support surface, and for what purpose. In some embodiments, the sensor can be self-contained in that it can detect orientation and suggest repositioning independent of a host.

We claim: 
     
       1. A self-contained wearable sensor device configured to be wearable by a patient and comprising:
 a wearable sensor device housing; 
 a processor provided in the wearable sensor device housing and having an associated storage device; 
 at least one accelerometer provided in the wearable sensor device housing and configured to generate acceleration data representative of the patient's orientation in multiple patient positions over time and usable by the processor for determining a respective measure of cumulative pressurization at each of multiple body regions of the patient, each of the multiple body regions being pressurized by a corresponding one of the multiple patient positions; and 
 an array of multiple selectively controllable LEDs provided in the wearable sensor device housing and corresponding with the multiple patient positions, wherein the multiple LEDs in the array are arranged relative to each other to define a sequential pattern corresponding with a sequence of the multiple patient positions defined by a rotation of the patient; 
 wherein the array of multiple selectively controllable LEDs are controllable by the processor to indicate:
 an automatically detected patient turn from a first patient position of the multiple patient positions pressurizing a first body region of the multiple body regions to a second patient position of the multiple patient positions pressurizing a second body region of the multiple body regions, by automatic movement of a visual indication of a current orientation of the patient across the array of LEDs from a first LED corresponding with the first patient position pressurizing the first body region to a second LED corresponding with the second patient position pressurizing the second body region; and 
 the respective measure of cumulative pressurization at each of the multiple body regions of the patient, the multiple body regions including the first and second body regions. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The sensor device of  claim 1  further comprising a turn protocol stored in the storage device. 
     
     
       3. The sensor device of  claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine, based on the acceleration data, whether the patient's orientation over time complies with the turn protocol, and 
 selectively illuminate the multiple LEDs based on whether the patient's orientation over time complies with the turn protocol. 
 
     
     
       4. The sensor device of  claim 1  further comprising a Head of Patient protocol stored in the storage device. 
     
     
       5. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein the multiple selectively controllable LEDs are configured to indicate a particular body region, from the multiple body regions, having a greatest measure of cumulative pressurization. 
     
     
       6. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein the multiple selectively controllable LEDs are configured to indicate each body region, from the multiple body regions, having a respective measure of cumulative pressurization above a threshold pressurization level. 
     
     
       7. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein each of the multiple selectively controllable LEDs is controllable by the processor to indicate an accumulated amount of time spent by the patient in a respective patient position of the multiple patient positions. 
     
     
       8. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein the array of multiple selectively controllable LEDs comprises an arcuate array of LEDs. 
     
     
       9. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein the array of multiple selectively controllable LEDs are controllable by the processor to display multiple different illuminated colors to indicate the respective measure of cumulative pressurization at each of the multiple body regions of the patient. 
     
     
       10. A system, comprising:
 a self-contained wearable sensor device configured to be wearable by a patient and comprising:
 a wearable sensor device housing; 
 at least one accelerometer provided in the wearable sensor device housing and configured to generate acceleration data representative of the patient's orientation in multiple patient positions over time, each of the multiple patient positions pressurizing a corresponding body region of multiple body regions of the patient; and 
 
 a processor configured to process the acceleration data generated by the at least one accelerometer of the self-contained wearable sensor device to:
 automatically detect patient turns between the multiple patient positions pressurizing the corresponding body regions of the patient; and 
 automatically determine a respective measure of cumulative pressurization at each of the multiple body regions of the patient; and 
 
 a display device including an array of multiple display elements corresponding with the multiple patient positions, wherein an arrangement of the multiple display elements defines a sequential pattern corresponding with a sequence of the multiple patient positions defined by a rotation of the patient; 
 wherein the display device is controllable by the processor to indicate:
 an automatically detected patient turn from a first patient position of the multiple patient positions pressurizing a first body region of the multiple body regions to a second patient position of the multiple patient positions pressurizing a second body region of the multiple body regions, by automatic movement of a visual indication of a current orientation of the patient across a display region from a first location corresponding with the first patient position pressurizing the first body region to a second location corresponding with the second patient position pressurizing the second body region; and 
 the respective measure of cumulative pressurization at each of the multiple body regions, the multiple body regions including the first and second body regions. 
 
 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 10 , wherein the display device includes an arcuate array of colored display elements controllable by the processor to display different illuminated colors indicating the respective measure of cumulative pressurization at each of the multiple body regions of the patient. 
     
     
       12. A system for monitoring patient position, comprising:
 a self-contained wearable sensor device configured to be wearable by a patient and comprising:
 a wearable sensor device housing; 
 at least one accelerometer provided in the wearable sensor device housing and configured to generate acceleration data representative of the patient's orientation in multiple patient positions over time; and 
 
 a processor configured to determine a respective measure of cumulative pressurization experienced by the patient in each of the multiple patient positions based on the acceleration data generated by the at least one accelerometer of the self-contained wearable sensor device; and 
 an array of multiple selectively controllable display elements arranged in a sequential pattern corresponding with a sequence of the multiple patient positions defined by a rotation of the patient; 
 wherein the array of multiple selectively controllable display elements are controllable by the processor to indicate:
 an automatically detected patient turn from a first patient position of the multiple patient positions to a second patient position of the multiple patient positions, by automatic movement of a visual indication of a current orientation of the patient across the array of display elements from a first display element corresponding with the first patient position to a second display element corresponding with the second patient position; and 
 the respective measure of cumulative pressurization experienced by the patient in each of the multiple patient positions. 
 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the multiple selectively controllable display elements comprise multiple LEDs. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 access a turn protocol for the patient; 
 determine, based on the acceleration data, whether the patient's orientation over time complies with the turn protocol, and 
 selectively control the multiple display elements based on whether the patient's orientation over time complies with the turn protocol. 
 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the multiple selectively controllable display elements are configured to indicate a particular patient position, from the multiple patient positions, having a greatest measure of cumulative pressurization experienced by the patient. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the multiple selectively controllable display elements are configured to indicate each patient position, from the multiple patient positions, having a respective measure of cumulative pressurization experienced by the patient above a threshold pressurization level. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 12 , wherein each of the multiple selectively controllable display elements is controllable by the processor to indicate an accumulated amount of time spent by the patient in a respective patient position. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the array of multiple selectively controllable display elements comprises an arcuate array of controllable display elements. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the multiple selectively controllable display elements are controlled in real time, based on the acceleration data generated by the at least one accelerometer of the self-contained wearable sensor device, to indicate both the current orientation of the patient and the respective measure of cumulative pressurization experienced by the patient in each of the multiple patient positions. 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 12 , wherein the array of multiple selectively controllable display elements is controllable by the processor to display multiple different illuminated colors indicating the respective measure of cumulative pressurization experienced by the patient in each of the multiple patient positions.